Updated: Sauer called up

Defenseman Michael Sauer was recalled from Hartford this morning, which means that Michal Rozsival is not ready to go for tomorrow’s game against Minnesota. Rozsival, who had arthroscopic hip surgery last year, was injured in the second period of last night’s 2-1 loss to Ottawa at The Garden.

After the game, coach John Tortorella said he didn’t have an update on Rozsival, but he is reportedly scheduled for a 1 p.m. MRI today. The Rangers wouldn’t get specific about where the defenseman was hurt, characterizing it as lower body. He limped off the ice after the contact and didn’t reappear in the game. With Rozival’s medical history the caution is more than justified.

Sauer (AHL photo) is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and has played 59 games this season for the Wolf Pack. He has six goals and 16 assists.

I’m sure this will come up when Carp and I host a LIVE VIDEO CHAT tomorrow at 1 p.m. Stop by, bring a lunch and we will hack through the thicket of your Rangers questions together…

Update: Coach John Tortorella has dropped the skating part of the optional practice today. Reading into that, he must want to give the players a rest after two straight games and the last being pretty low-energy.

“The key thing with Rosi is he can give you some offense,” Tortorella said. “He’s played well defensively but he gets us out of our end zone. He’s on our power play. The thing I liked about him, he’s been taking hits to make plays. He’s a good player and we’ll miss him. But you can’t belly ache about that, you need to find a way to make do without him and find a way to win.”

90 Comments

Ottawa won a “Renney” of a game last night. Ha. That was a win that he would have been proud of. Think about it. Ottawa won a game that looked like a game that we would have won in the beginning of the season. They beat us at our “old” system. It was one loss, I will give them a bit of a pass and see what the next game looks like. The Wild play a similar game to the Sens. Should be interesting to see how we respond.

I like that they are giving Sauer a shot, but after last night’s anemic powerplay, it’s sad that Sanguinetti didn’t get the call up instead. That says a lot about how poor his defensive play actually is.

Equally sad is that Potter didn’t get called up. Passed on the depth chart. And with MDZ in the pipeline, it won’t be long until he’s passed again.

What is also nice about Sauer getting a chance is he’s a Minnesota boy. Even though the Rangers are at home, at least his family will be able to watch him on TV on their local broadcast.

Renney would probably love it if he could coach Ottawa next season, but Clouston seems to be getting them to play well.

Sauer has probably earned this call-up recently, and the Rangers would probably like to see as many of their prospects as possible in NHL games, since their NHL players haven’t been injured this season.

I sat with Ryan Shannon’s parents last night up in a suite. We had a deal, he could score but the Rangers had to win. Well, he scored but it didn’t quite work out in our favor. But it was definitely cool to see how excited and happy his parents were when he scored the game winner. Not many people get to see that side of this game.

I would say this is either a “we’ve seen Potter and Sanguinetti already, lets get Sauer up for a game” – it might help if its in familiar surroundings with some support in the stands OR could be that he has been playing the most consistently of the D-men at Hartford and seems to be the most reliable defensively (as well as the most physical).

If they aren’t disclosing the injury it might be that Roszi might just be missing one or two games.

This Kid seems almost as if he has been forgoten due to his injuries. He should develop into a reliable Defensive D-man which we need with all the tweeners on the roster. Drafted in 2nd round after Staal. I’m happy to finally see him play.

I’m surprised at the lack of posts after a game that is a typical Renney loss. Am I to assume that it was not such a big deal because the team has been playing better more often, because of back-to-back, because we lost Rozsival…?

noonan you are so right hank just blew it. I think it was nice for his parents to see him score at MSG. Why all the hate for this kid?
I’ve been waiting for this kid Sauer to get healthy,he’s a horse and hitter things the Rangers want and need especially on the back line.

Pretty weak showing last night… Was at the game and they were just asleep at the wheel. We gotta stop doing that in back to backs. My guess is Valley gets the nod on Tuesday and Hank gets a week off basically. Im excited to see what this kid brings to the table. I don’t really know much about his game but I can assume that whatever he does will be better than Redden. I’ll save my criticism until after Tuesday’s game because then we will see if this was a freak Renney moment or a pattern. LGR.

noonan,
maybe hank should have had it, but there’s no excuse for letting a guy walk from the blue line to the hashmarks with an open look. also, I’m excited for sauer, he’s supposed to be a stud defensively.

i called this one last night when roszival left the game, sauer’s earned the call up. i just hope we actually get to see him play and rosi doesn’t pull what he did when sanguinetti got called up and decide to play at the last second. sadly, i doubt he stays up once rosi gets back.

I agree with Noons, Hank played decent, but that GW was a joke of a goal, and to be honest, maybe im asking too much of Hank, but that first goal was weak in my opinion, even if it was a broken play, i don’t like that goal. But that’s just me, i don’t know aboot the rest of you.

As for Mikey S. Good for him. For anyone thinking Sangs would be brought up and used on the PP, come on, Renney wont do that, and Torts wont either. Staal is barely used on the PP, so Sangs wouldn’t get the opportunity. Sauer will come up and he’ll play a little, but he wont play that much. Unless Torts decides he wants to give him a bigger chance, but this is the perfect time to see if Staal can handle bigger minutes. He’s out best d-man, at least defensively. I wanna see if he can handle the kind of time im hoping he gets.

I didn’t see this game as a “Renney” type game. I thought they were trying to attack and forecheck agressively, but it just appeared that they didn’t have the legs and ran into a defense playing really well. A Renney game would be where they didn’t even attempt to play an attacking, high tempo game.

Sauer and Anisimov would be regulars with every other parent club in the NHL, since mid-season, based upon their regular season AHL performace level. AMAZING how about eight out of 10 times a kid gets promoted to the Rangers, it has to be because of injury.

Don’t worry, this kid could score a hat trick (I know he’s a D) and it won’t matter, he is Hartford-bound as soon as Rozy, who has about 2/3rds of this kid’s hockey sense and ability, can come back. Up and down, up and down, up and down they come and go, right Slats? No thinking here about moving out the dead wood, starting with Orr, and making the team better.

Experience is EVERYTHING. Ability does not count. EXPERIENCE is the name of the game. Right, Slats? It is SICKENING that someone has to get hurt for this kid to get a 10-minute shot. It is SICKENING that Anisimov AND Parenteau are both in the top-10 in AHL scoring, and we keep the Betts’, Orrs’, and other milk bottle veterans around to block their timely progress. Potter was taken on a three-game trip to the west coast, and Renney didn’t even dress him for one game. Sanguinetti came up for one pre-game skate. Anisimov came up for ONE GAME, and was sent back. Don’t hold your breath about this kid, he’s under 30 so he will be ready in about five years. That’s all Slats knows about him.

Slats couldn’t take out the garbage on my block. He doesn’t have the brains to do it right.

“The joke was Henrik letting that game winning goal in.”
The fact that you’re blaming Henrik for anything in that game is a joke.
It’s very simple, after the first period, the team ran out of gas. (with the exception of dubi, cally and sjo)

A Renney game would be us getting shut out last night by a back up goaltender. We got a goal, but they were clearly tired and retarded.

This damn Garden of Dream night thing, this is like the second or third time they lost. Those kids came to the game to watch them win, or maybe just to sit on the sky box and have some Garden chilli and popcorn, but still, why do they have to suck that badly on a night like that.

I almost put my head through my TV every time they would miss the net. Ugh, just a frustrating game, just like the one in Carolina.

Yeah, no doubt aboot it, but even so, you cant deny that Hank blew the game for the team. Nobody’s saying he was horrible the whole game, but he didn’t stop the shot that needed to be stopped, and we failed to pick up at least a point because of it.

I should say the whole team blew the game, failing on the PP, etc. but Hank isn’t innocent.

the biggest concern I had about last night was the PP. the Sens are hotter than the Rangers were right now. they have won 8 out of 9, and Auld has always done real well vs Rangers.

so, I can accept a tough loss, as long as they get back on track vs Minny this week.

but the PP is a concern. and I am not happy with the way that Zherdev is playing. he is too fancy, instead of driving to the net with the puck he circles just like the bad old days of the Nylander euro circling.

they need more guys playing like Cally, driving hard to the net and taking the body in the corner.

I just think that even though they need all the points they can get. Its not that detrimental to the standing if they loss to a team who isnt gonna make the playoffs. I would think if they lost to PHI, NJ, BOS, PITS & CAR there would be a lot more complaining.

Too many excuses for Hank. If you see it, you should stop it. Goaltending 101.

Exactly.

MAKO

Maybe you’re right, but the way i see it, they have two more games than the Pens, more or less, and the Pens lost in regulation, and Nyr is two points behind them, four points out of fourth. That should have been enough motivation for them. That was a game they needed to win, and take advantage of the day, and they failed.

They’re gonna have to come up huge with a win against some of these tougher teams, like the B’s, Devs, and Pens. But against the Wild, and Trashers, there’s no excuses, they have to win those.

rangers is the 6th best on the team.. he’s terrible..poor decision making skills, extremely slow laterally, not physical and a bloated contract..i’m sure there are other negatives but point is sauer cannot be much of a downgrade

ORR – I understand what your saying, Hank has been vulnerable in certain situations such as the weak goal he let in against Montreal, but the guy normally stand on his head and thru the Renney era, he stole us a load of 1 pointers. That era is OVER.

If your starting goalie, and i don’t care what team, goes out and gives you a 2 goal against effort – you need to come up with more than 1 measly goal. The goal tending did not loose us that game. Sorry.

This is the Slats mentality. Sauer is, in fact, a MAJOR UPGRADE from Rozy. Anisimov is a MAJOR upgrade from Betts. Parenteau is a MAJOR upgrade from ORR. Your gramma is a MAJOR upgrade from Redden, on his best night, even if she has been dead for 20 years. Anyone else line up with Slats in being in denial of the above, obvious, observations? Good luck.

i love lundqvist and don’t usually get down on him, but last night he lost the game for us…

the bottom line is that we’re going to have games where we need him to steal a point or two for us, like the second of a back to back, but he didn’t do it and hasn’t in a while…we need that quality back from him…that’s how he earned the nickname “King”

not to mention that he wasn’t forced to make any amazing saves last night and he wasn’t forced to stand on his head…he let a softy in that he shouldn’t have when the bounces weren’t going our way (ie puck hitting random skate in front instead of going into the net on Antro’s redirect)

You can’t expect Hank to be PERFECT in the new system. Our D men are playing more aggressive now and it’s going to create a lot of odd man rushes as well as a few lapses here and there. I’m just saying that i think 2 goals against is a quality effort.

Listen, 9 games left. We need to go 6-3 the rest of the way. No more room to run out of gas now down the stretch.

ctrain, i understand what you’re saying, but neither goal was on an odd man rush, and they didn’t give up any odd man rush opportunities last night (they gave up odd man rushes, but the D did a good job of breaking them up)

i think you’d have a better point if one or two of the goals were scored on an odd man rush, but it’s just another excuse for hank when he missed what should have been an easy save

on the whole, 2 goals against is a quality effort, but i don’t like to put a blanket rule that says 2 goals against is a quality effort REGARDLESS of the circumstances

in the playoffs, a 2 goals against effort might not cut it nearly as much as the regular season

If any D had to go down, the right one did. Redden still has alot to prove, but his play has been good lately. Rozi had about 2 good weeks of hockey right around the all star break, then it was back to downright awful. Take a few weeks off Rozi and come back and play like you did 2 years ago.

The worst part is the Sens had one shot on goal in the first ten mins of the first period, or maybe a under ten minutes, and that only shot was a goal. Defensively they were decent, and Hank didn’t have to face too many shots. Adds insult to injury.

But it’s over with, and all they can do now is step up in the next game.

1-Staal-amazing plays for a 2nd year player. Future Norris?
2-Mara-strong year hasn’t fallen off. Re-sign him now!
3-Morris-great shot, plays a steady D, nice addition.
4-Girardi-good blocks, still sometimes out of position, SOFT.
5-Redden-lately has been really good, keep it up.
6-Rozi-SOFT, afraid to hit or get hit, bad passes, take some time off Rozi.

I just watched the highlights again and the Comrie backhand was just a sick shot. Hank had no chance. And the winning goal was a quick wrist shot (almost thru a defender) that was roofed in the top corner – by no means soft…

Sorry for barkin’ up a dead dogs ass with this, but am I missing something here?

Hopefully Torts has a thingee on his to do list named “talk to Scott about dumb drop passes”
Hopefully Redden receives a memo that it’s okay to step into someone, on the other team of course, and knock them down, during the game of course, while they have the puck of course.
Once those conditions are met Wade, you have hereby officially been ’empowered’ to carry out said physical contact!

Cakewalk – I’m guessing that most players are given their first chance due to injuries, since they occur so often in a physcial sport. Maybe you will get your wish next season when we are severely hamstrung by the salary cap, barring some unforeseen trades. Anisimov is almost a certainty to be on the opening night roster. Parenteau can’t be brought up during the season unless the Rangers want to risk losing him to waivers. I’m guessing a good idea for next season would be to hope for an offer sheet to Zherdev and see if you can sign Antropov for the same amount, although he will likely receive more in free agency. However, that would be too smart for Sather.

There doesn’t seem to be much depth in Hartford, so it’s a good thing that we haven’t had to take their players away too often because they would probably be losing, a lot, rather than this recent good run that they have had.

“He’s a strong player, he’s an intelligent player, so that means he’s gonna make pretty good reads defensively. He’s added some offense to his game lately in the last two-three weeks.”

Schoenfeld said the pecking order among Hartford’s defensemen has definitely changed over the course of the season, but that Sauer’s recent development has likely coincided with his recovery from reconstructive knee surgery last year.

“He just [got] better and better to the point where last month, every report I got and every game I saw, he was the best of a good lot. They’re playing well as a team and he was the best of a good lot of defensemen.”

According to recent reports, Sauer, Schoenfeld said, “is pretty much a stay-at-home defenseman who sees the available options for passes and can make a good pass. He’s a vocal defenseman, he really helps his partner with his decision-making. He’s a good skater. He’s strong, he’ll clear the front of the net, but he lately has added an offensive element to his game.”

He won’t be expected to contribute much offensively here, Schoenfeld added, but he was the best d-man at the position at this given time.

With regards to the change in system, Schoenfeld said that once Torts was hired, some adjustments were made in Hartford to harmonize with the big club.”

I agree with ctrain, I don’t really think either goal was on Hank, and anyone who says he “blew the game” just obviously missed the point that scoring 1 goal doesn’t win you many (if any) games, regardless of how good of a goalie you have. Even if Hank stops the eventual game winner, the rangers STILL don’t win last night because they didn’t score, period.

no, they don’t win, but they get a crucial point. you guys are completely ignoring everything i say about stealing a game and how it has to be done sometimes (remember wade dubielewicz a couple years ago?)

It’s impossible to predict what might have happened if the second goal did not occur. Impossible. What is not impossible to do is to identify some crucial screwups that caused it and try to mentally address them.
If they can’t play hard because they are pooped though, that can’t be rectified so easily.

ctrain016
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
ORR – I understand what your saying, Hank has been vulnerable in certain situations such as the weak goal he let in against Montreal, but the guy normally stand on his head and thru the Renney era, he stole us a load of 1 pointers. That era is OVER.

If your starting goalie, and i don’t care what team, goes out and gives you a 2 goal against effort – you need to come up with more than 1 measly goal. The goal tending did not loose us that game. Sorry.

ctrain- i agree with you to some extent, but u have to admit, henrik doesnt look like a playoff ready goalie. you have to realize that no team is gonna score 4 goals a night every single night. to me he just doesnt look as sharp as he did in seasons past. i remember that he always played great in the beginning and end of a season. he usually slumped in the middle. i know he makes alot of great saves, and giving up 2 goals last night wasnt a big deal, it was just 1 more than the other goalie, and the other goalie is alex freakin auld!!!!!! the old henrik wouldve gotten us at least a point. these guys have been goin at full speed for a few weeks now, hes gotta steal one for us once in awhile.

Look for the most part Lundqvist had a good game but lately he’s been letting in some soft goals. I know the Rangers have been scoring and winning games as of late, but you can’t except your team to score 3-4 goals a night, as we saw last night.

Their recent success has overshadowed Lundqvist’s inconsistency, especially with the high glove-side shots.

Last night his team didn’t help him out scoring only one goal and they are much slower possibly because Tortor barely uses the fourth line as someone pointed out in this or last thread.

Have any of you Hank ankle-biters actually played the game? When a player like Shannon hits the 2″ by 2″ spot where the crossbar meets the post with a laser to the gloveside, you tip your cap. It was a great shot —- anyone who thinks that goal was an automatic save by a goalie who is “on” is crazy or ignorant.

riguere- im not sayin that hank is playin bad. the team has to score more than a goal to win. it just seems like if we dont score 3-4 every game, we wont win. every game in march so far, every win weve had, weve scored 4 goals. every loss we had, we scored less. were not that talented to score like that every game. hes gonna have to steal one for us every now and then. even in the games hes looked good, hes given up 3 or 4. now im happy that he doesnt have to steal every game for us anymore, but i think hes gotten used to his mates scoring more so he doesnt have to worry about givin up a few more than he used to. as of right now, this is when we need him to be at his best, because every team, even the non playoff teams are playing much more desperate. i still think he needs a rest. hes been playin just as hard as his teammates and even though we need him to play to have the best chance, vally hould play 1 or 2 more games. he shouldve played last night. i think the guys mightve played a little better in front of him too.

I was referring more to the people here who believe that if “you can see it, you should stop it.” That is simply dead wrong. There is no goalie who has ever lived that can stop a bullet from twenty feet that is ticketed to the tiny area I cited before, ie. top corner gloveside. If the shooter can hit it with a laser, he scores. Period. That’s the way it has always been and always will be in this sport.

Sauer is the only kid I saw among the Rangers crop of young defensemen coming up from the Jr leagues a year or so ago,
that impressed me at the time. He was big, strong on his skates, handled himself well defensively and was very aggressive when it came to taking the body. Then he became injured and was out for a long while, and when he retuned I guess it still took him a while to get his stuff back together. I believe that he is the best they have down there now at this time. Let him loose – see what he can do….ye gods, he can’t be worse than Kallinin Roszival, or Redden have been for most of this season.